You gotta love Weckl. Before I went off to school, I thought he was amazing. I remember playing "Master Plan" for my mom in high school and telling her that he was the best drummer in the world...Period. (That was before I understood that there are best DRUMMERS--plural--in the world! Everyone has a voice, and so many are great...)

After going through 4 years of pretty intense study, I realized that Weckl was even better than I thought. But ironically, I think his technique often overshadows his musicality. A lot of drummers get hung up on his chops and miss out on his ability to musically speak through the drums.

My favorite work of his is when he backed up Michel Camilo on 1989's "On Fire" disc. He kills, and it made me want to understand that contemporary sound.

If you don't have that album, it's a must. Joel Rosenblatt and Smitty are on it, too, and it's excellent!

Man Dave Weckl expresses himself on the drums like no other. The only one even in contention is Vinnie Colaiuta. I can't believe people would say that Dave is predictable. The guy has such a grasp of his drumming vocabulary that he can say almost anything he wants. He has developed such an impeccable sense of dynamics that NO drummer i've heard can match. You wanna hear this guy swing. Also he has the decency to admit that he had to change his technical approach and contradict some of his earlier tutorials in DVDs etc. Not many people, nevermind drummers, would be man enough to do that.

I can't stress enough how musical Dave Weckl is. He Bridges the gap between Rock and Jazz for me. I mean if drummers actually listened to him they would hear how some things he plays have the force, conviction and OOOMPH! of anything from the rock idiom. And he does all this in the name of Jazz baby!

Dave, you're a legend. You speak to me and i hear everything you do man.

My favorite work of his is when he backed up Michel Camilo on 1989's "On Fire" disc. He kills, and it made me want to understand that contemporary sound.

If you don't have that album, it's a must. Joel Rosenblatt and Smitty are on it, too, and it's excellent!

Have you also heard DW on the 1986 Michel Camilo Suntan CD? I think the drumming on that is even better. (Plus the drum sound micing/recording is more upfront as well.) Did you hear "Tombo in 7/4"? (It's a remake of Airto tune). The entire tune (including the solo) is in 7/4. I've listened, studied, dissected that particular piece more than 1000 times. Also, the 1993 Michel Camilo disc "Rendeveous" has a track called "As one". That entire tune is in 5/4 including the solo break! A lot of songs with odd time often only have the odd-meter for a few bars as a gimmick section and then they revert back to 4/4. It's hard to find tunes with odd-meter all the way through and be a quality song that's fun to listen to!

If folks want phenomenal examples of odd time playing, those 2 tracks are worthy of study. Both were done by the trio of Michel Camilo + Anthony Jackson + Dave Weckl.

Wow. Thats all i can say. Ive been reading some of the comments posted about Dave weckl in this thread and im amazed. I mean as far as i am concerned Dave weckl is one of the most innovative drummers of all time. There are few drummers in this world who raise the bar for the rest of us. Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Steve Gadd. I believe that Weckl is in that class. He has brought the art of drumming to another level.

How any drummer could find him boring is beyond belief. Your all drummers!!! I realize that not everyone is into that genre that he plays, but you have to respect his playing ability. You have to respect his ability to come up with split second beats,rolls, accents, fills that fit so perfectly to the music.

How any drummer could find him boring is beyond belief. Your all drummers!!! I realize that not everyone is into that genre that he plays, but you have to respect his playing ability.

Yes, but having to respect somebody on some level doesn't mean you aren't also entitled to find them boring. I've met some amazingly smart people in the past for whom I have a great deal of intellectual respect, but who bore me to tears on a personal level. Same deal.

that latin stuff in odd time signatures is something he owns. you can really see(and hear) on his videos the influence of gadd and how he took it further out. oh,and his beat displacements on his 2nd video(i believe it's "the next step") is fun to practice.

Virgil Donati, his innovating techniques, inventer of new drum sounds and chops that where unthinkable a few years ago (i only like a few songs from planet x)

Horacio Hernandez, his pure playing, the way he looks when he plays (the boy got soul)

And ofcourse my ultimate favorite Dave Weckl

Dave is the only drummer i know that is good at EVERY aspect of the drums there is. I am getting tired of people saying he's too technical or not musical, for those people this music is clearly of a level beyond your understanding! Some say he's boring or unoriginal, well, the fills he makes are the most sophisticated and musical ones out there, he even plays things i have never heard before! How's that for original??

It takes a Virgil Donati to beat him in some techniques, but Dave is way more musical, or a Dennis Chambers to have more 'brute force' power, but all his skills combined makes him the ultimate drummers drummer!

But what area of drumming would you say Dave Weckl is not good at then ?

Out of respect for Bernhard's wishes I shan't answer that, but anyways, you didn't quite get what I meant, which was - Weckl would name plenty of other drummers who have mastered all aspects of the instrument, and he would definitely tell you there are drummers who play more sophisticated fills.

Thanks Womble, for not "going there"! Yea, it's always better to highlight someones' strengths than to point out their weaknesses. Though, I dare say, that Weckl has few, if any, of the latter. IMHO. He never ceases to amaze me, whenever I see or hear him. There's always something that he does that makes me say, "Neat! How'd he do that"? Thanks again and Play On!

Despite whether or not you are a fan of Dave Weckl I wanted to post a quick review of his concert and clinic that I attended over the weekend. The show was great I caught first set and part of the second set. The first set was great, I had a great seat at the front table off to the side where I had a great view of his left hand. I was amazed just watching that hand. His ghost notes were so sweet and his singles were excecuted beautifullyl. He is amazing to watch. At the second set I move to a table close to the door so I could split a little early and got to watch his right hand. That limb is just as amazing to watch as the left. He really was amazing to watch. They did a lot of the same music second set but that is because Dave admitted they had only been playing together as a group since August. They filled a lot of time just playing some old jazz standards which was pretty cool too. Great show...worth the $30.

The clinic was a lot of fun. I would not call him the greatest clinician but he was good. He talked a lot about grip and position of the drums. I liked the fact that he stressed you should not let the drums dictate where you place them....you play the drums, don't let the drums play you. He would show excersises that only he can pull off but he did show the basics of what he was pulling off first. You know, I kind of knew I was really just going to see him play without his band which was great to see too. Not the best clinic I have attended but I did enjoy it. He was very cool afterwards and was willing to talk to everyone. I like Weckl....he is amazing to watch.

Despite whether or not you are a fan of Dave Weckl I wanted to post a quick review of his concert and clinic that I attended over the weekend. The show was great I caught first set and part of the second set. The first set was great, I had a great seat at the front table off to the side where I had a great view of his left hand. I was amazed just watching that hand. His ghost notes were so sweet and his singles were excecuted beautifullyl. He is amazing to watch. At the second set I move to a table close to the door so I could split a little early and got to watch his right hand. That limb is just as amazing to watch as the left. He really was amazing to watch. They did a lot of the same music second set but that is because Dave admitted they had only been playing together as a group since August. They filled a lot of time just playing some old jazz standards which was pretty cool too. Great show...worth the $30.

The clinic was a lot of fun. I would not call him the greatest clinician but he was good. He talked a lot about grip and position of the drums. I liked the fact that he stressed you should not let the drums dictate where you place them....you play the drums, don't let the drums play you. He would show excersises that only he can pull off but he did show the basics of what he was pulling off first. You know, I kind of knew I was really just going to see him play without his band which was great to see too. Not the best clinic I have attended but I did enjoy it. He was very cool afterwards and was willing to talk to everyone. I like Weckl....he is amazing to watch.

Great review, Mapex. I woulda' loved to have been there for that Weckl clinic and show. $30.00 for that is a steal! To see one of the top drummers do a clinic and perform is always a treat. And Weckl will never dissapoint. Thanks alot...Play On! ;-)

I was also fortunate enough to catch Dave weckl in Palatine IL. I would not consider it a clinic, although he did one heck of a solo in the middle of the set, it was more of concert of the whole band. They did more jazz standard than any thing, which was actually pretty incredible stuff. Dave has really grown as a jazz-fusionist. His has an unbelievable sennse of time and touch. The accenting on a variety of surfaces, weather it a drum, cymbal, or bell was unreal. His dbl strokes were just so smooth and fast. The second part of the show was more groove oriented, with a pretty awsome bass/drums solo.It's been probably ten yrs,if not longer since I've seen him,but i'm here to tell ya, the guys twice the drummer he was back then, and back THEN he was a God,now ..........there's not a word that can even desribe him.

I was also fortunate enough to catch Dave weckl in Palatine IL. I would not consider it a clinic, although he did one heck of a solo in the middle of the set, it was more of concert of the whole band. They did more jazz standard than any thing, which was actually pretty incredible stuff. Dave has really grown as a jazz-fusionist. His has an unbelievable sennse of time and touch. The accenting on a variety of surfaces, weather it a drum, cymbal, or bell was unreal. His dbl strokes were just so smooth and fast. The second part of the show was more groove oriented, with a pretty awsome bass/drums solo.It's been probably ten yrs,if not longer since I've seen him,but i'm here to tell ya, the guys twice the drummer he was back then, and back THEN he was a God,now ..........there's not a word that can even desribe him.

Thanks tb. Very detailed review and well written. Sure makes me wanna see him ASAP!
If he's twice the drummer he was, OMG! You're right. There's no word that can describe him, now. Gotta find out when he'll be around here. Thanks again...Play On! ;-)

I was extremely lucky to see Dave Weckl AND John Patitucci do a drum/bass clinic quite a few years ago. I got to meet both of them and all I can say is that the experience changed my life musically. Both Dave and John were absolutely great to talk to and answered the tons of questions I threw at them. As for the show, Dave and John are so far beyond what you actually see in their instructional videos and on CD. It's so overwhelming that they both just don't seem human when it comes to their skills as musicians. To top things off, Dave is a fantastic sound engineer and did his own P.A. mix.

I have a lot of favourite drummers but Dave Weckl and Buddy Rich top the list. I was lucky enough to see both in concert which was just icing on the cake. I can die happy now.. |O|

Well, the Weckl show was last night, and I had a FANTASTIC seat to see him in "full flight!" As you may already know, he's touring with Brian Brombergs' Downright Upright Allstars. And these guys aim to please! WOW! You talk about incredible musicians!

You have Bromberg on upright acoustic bass, who in my opinion, is one of THE best bass players in the world! BAR NONE! He left me with my jaw draggin' on the floor walkin' outta the Rams Head Tavern, in Annapolis, where they played last night.

Then you have Jeff Lorber on piano...OMG! All the accolades you've ever heard about Lorber are absolutely TRUE! The guy "diddled that ivory" like NO ONE I've ever seen, short of Keith Emerson! They call Lorber "The Godfather", and I can certaintly see and hear why!

There's Gary Meek on the tenor saxophone! I honestly haven't heard alot about Meek in the past, BUT I will definitely try to hear more of him from now on! He's a MONSTER with that sax! So quick and fluent without losing ANY musicality! I recommend anyone to check out his discography! You WON'T be dissapointed!

And, how 'bout Randy Brecker! He needs NO introduction! He's played with SO MANY of the greats, Cobham, Pastorius, Coryell, Zappa, and, of course, he was on the first Blood, Sweat, and Tears album in 1968! And everybody remembers the years with his younger brother, Michael, who we just recently lost. The Brecker Brothers were big from '75 to '82, when they split and Randy hooked up with Jaco to record and tour with his band. He reunited with Michael in 2001 to record and tour with him! It is an honor to the DUA, to have him touring with them, and it definitely showed last night. What a performance by Randy! He sounds so lively and fresh with that trumpet of his!! Ummm...Bravo!

And as far as the drummer goes...AGAIN, HE needs no intro! Dave Weckl is such an inspiration to me, and last nights' performance was absolutely NO exception! I had an incredible view of him 'cause his set was sideways to my view. I was sitting in the front of the stage only 1 table from the front row. Couldn't of asked for a better place to be at The Rams Head! Weckl's bass foot work in PERFECT syncopation with his high-hat was in full view and I was just "glued" to that sight all night! I got some really EXCELLENT video of him on my video-phone, and I've been watching it over and over again, today!

He did a brush solo near, the end of the show, that made my head spin! OMG! Can a human being really do that?!! HOLY S*#T!! If you have a chance to see Weckl on this tour, and you are a fan of drums...YOU REALLY NEED TO SEE HIM play with these guys! You'd be making a HUGE mistake not to! I HIGHLY recommend getting tickets to see the Downright Upright Allstars! What a show...Play On! ;-)

Thanks!!! Now you're really making me jealous!! I was going to see them tonight in Boston....However, I have a rehearsal for my church's easter concert...:-(

Been listening to a lot of Brian Bromberg lately. Don't have the new album yet...But, will soon.

You're welcome, murph! Sorry to make ya jealous, but I'm only speaking from the heart!

That's too bad you won't see them tonight, but that church concert is more important! Good Luck with the show at Easter! ;-)

Yea, Brian Bromberg is INCREDIBLE!! Just blew me away, last night! You should pick up his new one! It's got some fantastic players on it, INCLUDING Vinnie Colaiuta! I highly recommend it! They were selling it at the show last night, so I think it's in stores! Check it out! It won't dissapoint...Play On! ;-)

Yea, Brian Bromberg is INCREDIBLE!! Just blew me away, last night! You should pick up his new one! It's got some fantastic players on it, INCLUDING Vinnie Colaiuta! I highly recommend it! They were selling it at the show last night, so I think it's in stores! Check it out! It won't dissapoint...Play On! ;-)

yes! Bromberg really put together some amazing musicians, i just bought it, "Downright Upright", highly recommended
i may be wrong, but i believe almost all of the tracks are Vinnie Colaiuta?